Les femmes kanak sont fatiguées de la violence des hommes

Le rééquilibrage économique entrepris dans les années 1990 pour combler le fossé social qui séparait en Nouvelle-Calédonie les Kanak des autres communautés, l’engagement des femmes kanak dans le mouvement indépendantiste et, plus récemment, l’application de la parité politique, ont provoqué des mutations importantes dans la vie matérielle des femmes mais aussi dans leurs représentations du genre. Nos enquêtes ethnographiques et les résultats d’une étude par questionnaire en population générale féminine que nous avons menée sur le thème des violences faites aux femmes indiquent qu’aujourd’hui une majorité de femmes kanak ne légitiment ni les viols ni les coups, y compris quand l’auteur est le conjoint. Elles contestent ainsi un ressort de l’ordre masculin et mettent en question les constructions anciennes de la conjugalité. Alors que les violences constituaient jusqu’il y a peu un moyen généralisé de la domination masculine, leur mise en cause idéologique, massive chez les plus jeunes des Kanak et chez celles qui résident en ville, témoigne à l’échelle des individus d’ouvertures nouvelles et plus généralement d’une renégociation des rapports sociaux de sexe que nous essayons ici de mieux comprendre et d’inscrire dans l’histoire politique et sociale récente du pays.The engagement of Kanak women with the pro- Independence movement, the economic rebalancing programme launched in the 1990’s to bridge the social gap in New Caledonia between the Kanak and the other communities, and more recently the application of political parity have led to deep change in women’s everyday lives but also in their gender representations. Our ethnographic investigation and the results of our questionnaire survey on violence among the general female population show that, today, a majority of Kanak women no longer legitimise rape or physical violence even if the perpetrator is the partner. In this way they are challenging one of the foundations of the male order and querying long-standing constructions of the conjugal relationship. Violence was until recently a generalised way of imposing male domination. Its ideological challenging, now on a massive scale by the youngest Kanak women and urban Kanak women, shows that new openings are emerging at the individual level and that, more generally, there is a renegotiation of gender social relationships that we will try better understanding here while setting it into the background of the country’s recent political and social history

Martin, Phyllis M. – Catholic Women of Congo Brazzaville

L’historienne Phyllis Martin, dans un livre d’histoire sociale très documenté et bien illustré, Catholic Women of Congo Brazzaville : Mothers and Sisters in Troubled Times, étudie l’évolution des relations entre les femmes et l’Église catholique au Congo sur la longue période qui va de la fondation de la mission en 1883 à la fin du XXe siècle. Ce travail vient compléter une étude antérieure sur la société brazzavilloise pendant l’ère coloniale, consacrée aux interactions entre colonisateurs e..

Antiquaires et businessmen de la Petite Côte du Sénégal. Le commerce des illusions amoureuses

Dans un contexte de précarité économique et d'obstacles à partir au Nord, l'arrivée massive de touristes — dont des femmes seules — susceptibles de fournir des compensations pour des services rendus, paraît avoir engendré au Sénégal une propo­sition de prestations sexuelles qui n'existait pas, du moins à cette échelle et sous cette forme. Le phénomène a acquis sur la Petite Côte, première destination touristique du pays, une visibilité incontestable. L'article s'appuie sur les récits d'hommes, désignés sous le terme générique d'« antiquaires », qui ne vendent pas forcément des objets, mais s'engagent dans des transactions sexuelles avec des vacancières venues d'Europe, souvent plus âgées qu'eux. Il décrit les compétences mobilisées pour réussir dans cette activité, interroge la réorganisation des rapports sociaux de sexe qu'elle implique et souligne la complexité des significations possibles pour les acteurs eux- mêmes. L'étude discute enfin le rôle de culture brokers parfois attribué aux beach boys ailleurs en Afrique.Against a backdrop of economic precariousness combined with obsta­cles to going North in search of work, the massive influx of tourists to Senegal, including women travelling alone and willing to pay for services rendered, has given rise to an offer of sexual services that was previously unknown—or at least not on that scale and in that form. The phenomenon is clearly visible in Petite Côte, the country's leading tourist destination. The article is based on the stories of the men generically known as "antique dealers", not because they necessarily sell objects, but rather because they engage in sexual transactions with European female holiday makers, often far older then they are. It describes the skills used to succeed in the business, questions the reorganisation of social sexual relations that it implies, and underscores the complexity of meanings this may have for the players themselves. The study also discusses the role of the culture brokers sometimes attributed to beach boys elsewhere in Africa

Les femmes kanakes face aux violences sexuelles : le tournant judiciaire des années 1990

Cet article part d’un fait social récent en Nouvelle-Calédonie : l’explosion des dénonciations et le recours au droit français des femmes kanakes pour pénaliser les violences sexuelles et domestiques dont elles sont victimes. Par rapport à la légitimation en pays kanak des violences contre les femmes et leur traitement dans le droit coutumier, ce fait indique une renégociation des rapports sociaux de sexe qui est analysée et replacée dans son contexte régional mélanésien. Les protestations et les nouveaux comportements féminins de plainte ne sont pas seulement caractéristiques d’une élite éduquée et urbaine, mais touchent dans une certaine mesure les femmes de milieux ruraux. Qu’elles posent désormais le refus de la violence masculine ainsi que la nécessité du consentement dans les relations sexuelles, et qu’elles affirment le droit des victimes de viol, dénotent un changement important dans les notions non seulement de genre mais de personne et témoignent d’une progression de l’idée de l’individu chez les Kanaks.This paper focuses on a recent social event in New Caledonia: the out‑burst of denunciations and the resorting of Kanak women to French law in order to penalize the sexual and domestic violence of which they are victim. Compared to the former Kanak social acceptance of violence against women and their settlement within customary law, this fact indicates a re-negociation of social relations between the sexes which is analysed in the text and placed in its regional Melanesian context. New female attitudes of protest and of lodging complaint are not only characteristic of the educated and urban élite but, to a certain extent, can also be found among rural women. Through the refusal of male violence, the affirmation of sexual consent and the recognition of the rights of the victims of rape, important changes in the notions of gender and person, and progress of the idea of the individual are being promoted among the Kanaks

Transdisciplinary approach to improve concrete outdoor runs for organic pigs: Identification of innovations

Across Europe, most organic growing-finishing pigs are kept in systems with outdoor runs. When made from barren concrete, these outdoor runs restrict species-specific behaviour and, together with poor pen hygiene, may lead to high ammonia emissions. While few scientific publications have discussed the effects of such outdoor runs on pig welfare and environment, considerable practical experience exists which could be a valuable source for improvement measures. Therefore, the CORE Organic Cofund project POWER aims for a transdisciplinary approach to identify innovative solutions to improve outdoor runs. Stakeholder workshops with farmers and experts took place in eight European countries resulting in 102 statements re-garding innovations and best-practice examples. Researchers of different disciplines evalu-ated those during a stepwise process based on practical and scientific knowledge

Dendritic Cell Responses to Early Murine Cytomegalovirus Infection: Subset Functional Specialization and Differential Regulation by Interferon α/β

Differentiation of dendritic cells (DCs) into particular subsets may act to shape innate and adaptive immune responses, but little is known about how this occurs during infections. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) are major producers of interferon (IFN)-α/β in response to many viruses. Here, the functions of these and other splenic DC subsets are further analyzed after in vivo infection with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV). Viral challenge induced PDC maturation, their production of high levels of innate cytokines, and their ability to activate natural killer (NK) cells. The conditions also licensed PDCs to efficiently activate CD8 T cells in vitro. Non-plasmacytoid DCs induced T lymphocyte activation in vitro. As MCMV preferentially infected CD8α+ DCs, however, restricted access to antigens may limit plasmacytoid and CD11b+ DC contribution to CD8 T cell activation. IFN-α/β regulated multiple DC responses, limiting viral replication in all DC and IL-12 production especially in the CD11b+ subset but promoting PDC accumulation and CD8α+ DC maturation. Thus, during defense against a viral infection, PDCs appear specialized for initiation of innate, and as a result of their production of IFN-α/β, regulate other DCs for induction of adaptive immunity. Therefore, they may orchestrate the DC subsets to shape endogenous immune responses to viruses

Radiative pion capture by a nucleon

The differential cross sections for $\pi^- p \to \gamma n$ and $\pi^+ n \to \gamma p$ are computed up to $O(p^3)$ in heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory (HBChPT). The expressions at $O(p)$ and $O(p^2)$ have no free parameters. There are three unknown parameters at $O(p^3)$, low energy constants of the HBChPT Lagrangian, which are determined by fitting to experimental data. Two acceptable fits are obtained, which can be separated by comparing with earlier dispersion relation calculations of the inverse process. Expressions for the multipoles, with emphasis on the p-wave multipoles, are obtained and evaluated at threshold. Generally the results obtained from the best of the two fits are in good agreement with the dispersion relation predictions.Comment: 24 pages, Latex, using RevTe

Myoglobin for Detection of High-Risk Patients with Acute Myocarditis

There is an unmet need for accurate and practical screening to detect myocarditis. We sought to test the hypothesis that the extent of acute myocarditis, measured by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), can be estimated based on routine blood markers. A total of 44 patients were diagnosed with acute myocarditis and included in this study. There was strong correlation between myoglobin and LGE (rs = 0.73 [95% CI 0.51; 0.87], p < 0.001), while correlation was weak between LGE and TnT-hs (rs = 0.37 [95% CI 0.09; 0.61], p = 0.01). Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis determined myoglobin ≥ 87 μg/L as cutoff to identify myocarditis (92% sensitivity, 80% specificity). The data were reproduced in an established model of coxsackievirus B3 myocarditis in mice (n = 26). These data suggest that myoglobin is an accurate marker of acute myocarditis. Graphical Abstract Receiver operating curve analysis determined myoglobin ≥ 87 μg/L as cutoff to identify myocarditis and these data were reproduced in an established model of coxsackievirus B3 myocarditis in mice: CMRI, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging; Mb, myoglobin; LGE, late gadolinium enhancement; ROC, receiver operating curve analysis

ProPIG - Organic pig health, welfare and environmental impact across Europe

Organic production is perceived by consumers as being superior in animal welfare and sustainability and the demand for organic pork products is slowly increasing. Within the past ten years a variety of husbandry and management systems have been developed across the EU, ranging from farms with pigs outdoors all year round using local breeds to farms with housed pigs having concrete outside runs and using conventional breeds (CorePIG, Rousing et al, 2011). So far, mainly clinical parameters have been used to describe the health situation on organic pig farms, identifying some key problems, such as weaning diarrhoea and piglet mortality. Organic pig production is - amongst others - characterised through a holistic approach based on the EU Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and the IFOAM principles: ‘health, ecology, fairness and care’. This clearly states that health is more than absence of clinical symptoms and, the relation between animals and their environment is identified: ‘Health’ is defined as ‘the wholeness and integrity of living systems. It is not simply the absence of illness, but the maintenance of physical, mental, social and ecological well-being’ (IFOAM; 2006). Concepts of animal welfare include physical and mental welfare as well as the concept of naturalness (Fraser 2003), which is often interpreted as the ability to perform natural behaviour. Verhoog et al (2003) describe three main approaches within organic agriculture’s concept of nature and naturalness: the no-chemicals approach, the agro-ecology approach and the integrity approach. Applying those concepts to organic pig production can highlight potential conflicts: outdoor systems are perceived as the optimal housing system for pigs, as they allow natural behaviour such as rooting. However, this behaviour can cause damage to the grass cover and furthermore the manure fate in outdoor areas needs to be considered. A few studies on outdoor pig production have shown a clear N and P surplus and a high degree of distribution heterogeneity in outdoor areas, increasing the risk of N and P losses (Watson et al. 2003). Robust and competitive organic pig production needs to encompass low environmental impacts and good animal health and welfare. So far few studies have quantified both aspects in different pig husbandry systems. In addition, the theory that improving animal health and welfare reduces environmental impacts through decreased medicine use, improved growth rate and feed conversion efficiency has still to be verified. The aim of the CoreOrganic2 project ProPIG (2011-2014; carried out in eight European countries) is to examine the relationship between health, welfare and environmental impact. On-farm assessment protocols will be carried out on 75 farms in three pig husbandry systems (outdoor, partly outdoor, indoor with concrete outside run). Environmental impact will be assessed using both Life Cycle Assessment and calculations of nutrient balances at farm and outdoor area level. Animal health and welfare will be evaluated from animal based parameters including clinical and selected behavioural parameters. Results will be fed back and used by the farmers to decide farm specific goals and strategies to achieve these goals. As an outcome, all farms will create their individual health, welfare and environmental plan, which will be reviewed after one year to allow continuous development. This will provide the opportunity not only to investigate, but also improve the influence of organic pig farming systems on animal welfare and environmental impact. This fulfils the fourth IFOAM principle of care: ‘Organic Agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment’ (IFOAM, 2006)